The Berserker

Blurb

Aimee-Lou Bracewell and Lana Booth were best friends who find a young troll in the shadow of the crumbled church walls on the island in Blaise Pool. Ignoring the warnings they keep it in their tree-house as the total eclipse gets closer, not realising that the local pets are gradually disappearing. When Marcus and Wilson discover the girl’s secret they ask Marcus’ brother Peter for help, and he tells them of his own face to face encounter with the elder troll and how the trolls would seek vengeance against anyone who have seen them. Can the gang get the troll back to its family before it becomes a Berserker and ravages everything and everyone in Blaise village? The total eclipse is coming and the gang are running out of time.

Chapter 1

“Whose silly idea was this?”

Wilson Bracewell had his waterproof jacket zipped up to his chin, trying to hide from the cold air that was being blown in from the Atlantic Ocean, and he was chattering his teeth together, just to make the strenuous point that he was freezing while he let out a sound of brrrrr every couple of minutes.

After the fourth time of his lips vibrating together, and the constant tappity tap of teeth coming together, Marcus Robson had had enough.

“Will you give it a rest,” he said as he slammed his hands onto his knees. “All night you've been on about being cold Do you not think that maybe I'm cold as well? Do you hear my teeth chattering, or me whining on about it every five minutes?” He asked as he looked at Wilson. “And this was your idea, while you're asking.”

Wilson looked back at Marcus as he recalled in his head the chain of events that led to them being out beneath a blanket of twinkling stars on a freezing November night, and he nodded and smiled as he got to the part where he had asked his friend if he had wanted to night fish Blaise Pool.

“Oh yeah,” he said as he laughed in realisation, “It was me wasn’t it.”

They both turned back to concentrate on their fishing rod’s that were pointing towards the water like a javelin frozen in time, and they both laughed as they did.

Their breath was bellowing out in plumes of dense smoke, which evaporated into the fresh night air, and Marcus began making Red Indian noises as he blew his smoky breath into rhythmic bursts.

“Me Little Bear, you Running Scared, oh wa oh wa oh wa oh wa.”

Wilson looked at him as he placed his fingers above his head to imitate feathers in his hair.

“What are you doing?” he asked him, just as Marcus began war whooping with his hand over his mouth.

“Running Scared is a weak man,” he told Wilson in his deepest Red Indian tribal voice. “He run from woman with rolling pin if she making cakes.”

Wilson tried to hold on to his contempt look, but he failed as he began to laugh.

“What the frick are you talking about Marc?” he asked him, lifting his head as the laugh got heavier. “Run from a woman with a rolling pin, what the hell?”

He continued to laugh as he pictured his mother chasing him with a rolling pin above her head, covered in flour.

His laughter stopped as the bite alarm that his line was attached to burst into life.

The beep beep beep made Wilson lurch forwards and grab out to his rod, yanking it upwards and feeling the resistance as the line tightened with the sudden weight of the fish on the hook.

“We’re in,” he shouted, even though his friend sat next to him would have heard him whisper.

“Take your time, Wilson” Marcus said, as he dropped his Red Indian act.

He watched Wilson’s attempt to guide the fish from the murky depths of Blaise Pool, by keeping the line taught and then reeling backwards when it would make a fresh dart back to its home, and he grabbed the landing net as the dark green head broke the shimmering surface.

“It’s a tench mate,” Wilson informed his friend, even though Marcus could see perfectly clearly.

“Nice fish, Wilson,” he enthused.

As the fish slid into the net, the boys both looked out towards the island that was silhouetted black against the darkness. They could make out the shape of the line of trees that spilt the island in half, and of the rundown church walls that were barely still standing, and they could also hear a noise that bounced off of the trees, a noise that sounded like a hungry baby wailing for a bottle.

“What the frick is that?” Wilson whispered as he froze motionless.

Marcus shrugged his shoulders in reply, scared to talk in case he was heard.

The slapping of the fish on the surface of the water broke the tension, and also stopped whatever it was from making the high pitched wailing noise from the island.

Marcus pulled the landing net in and knelt down to unhook his friends’ fish as it continued to break-dance on the ground, while Wilson placed his fishing rod back on to its rests and knelt down next to him.

“What was that noise?” he whispered, as he held the fighting fish motionless.

Marcus shrugged again as he picked the hook from the 6 pound tench, (something the two friends would normally be going wild with excitement at).

“It sounded like a baby,” Wilson said, even quieter than before.

Something just occurred to Marcus as he jerked his head towards the island.

“Holy crap Wilson,” he said hurriedly, “Maybe they are sacrificing a kid over there or something.”

The sheer thought of that made Wilson take a sharp breath as his gaze leered towards the island, and they both stared into the darkness, with neither of them daring to breathe in case it made the noise again.

“What do we do?” Wilson finally asked; which made Marcus breathe deeply for the first time in at least a minute.

“Pack up and get the hell out,” Marcus said, not realising he hadn’t spoken since the fish had broken the surface. “I don’t like the sound of whatever it was.”

“Sounded dangerous,” Wilson agreed.

The both stood and went about packing their fishing tackle away, only using the light of the Moon in the clear winter sky to illuminate the area around them, and both glancing every so often across to the island; that seemed to be getting eerier by the minute.

A slapping on the water from the island shore changed to splashing, and the boys felt the fear tickle the back of their necks.

What’s was that?” Marcus said as he stopped wading out to get his keepnet from the water.

Wilson felt a little scream of fear creep from him as he stared across to the island, and then felt a little leak of urine escape from his penis as a figure began to splash even more in the water.

Marcus’s scream could be heard in the village, some four miles away, as he threw the keepnet into the water and began running (or wading) out of the lake and off towards his bike that was propped up against the fence surrounding Blaise Pool. He was soon joined by Wilson, who had reacted more to Marcus trying to escape the water than he had to the figure splashing on the banks of the island.

“Let’s get the frick out of here,” Wilson said as he grabbed his bike that was leaning against the fence.

“What about the gear, Wils?” Marcus asked as he began peddling away.

“Screw the gear, man,” he replied as he went past him. “We can get it tomorrow or something.”

The boys soon became two lights flickering red in the distance as they headed, at full pace, past Blaise Forest and off toward the village.

summerstone:
Seriously this is one of the best books I've ever read. The plot is intriguing, I love the narrative style. Its very descriptive and unique, with minimal cliches. It makes for a great read and the sequels are amazing. Totally worth reading. ^^ That's me trying to be professional. But in all hones...

Ben Gauger:
Kudos go to the author of ''Equinox: Into the Clouds'' for originality in character development as well as scene execution and in addition plot development, A truly original story if I do say so myself, though the spelling in and of itself could use a little work, but other than that a truly orig...

europeanlove:
I gotta hand it to you. I love reading. I read books everyday. When the book is good I can read it in probably 13 hours. Your story was amazing. Great prose, very imaginative. Incredible dialogue. I am deeply impressed. Keep it up.

Jade Jez:
What a wonderful, immersive book from Eliott McKay. It starts with an air of mystery, introducing main character Michaela, the clumsy teenager. From there, it whisks you off your feet and dumps you into a beautifully written world where you can almost smell and hear everything happening. I go...

Deleted User:
This is a very clever story in the style of 19th century (and turn of the century) Gothic writing, very reminiscent of Stevenson's The Body Snatchers or even of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (less so of Frankenstein itself, since the author is more minimalist than Shelley's florid, Romantic rhetoric). ...

Alice Liu:
Whoa! I've been wondering how would the Maurauders react to Harry's life and here we go! YOU ARE THE BEST! All the characters are consistent with their personalities shown in the book! I love how you compare Lily with Molly and it's definitely true for her being a mother! I wish Peter comes have ...

Morgan-Leigh Nortje:
A storyline and plot not unlike something George R R Martin would have produced, only with far less tragedy. The stunning story of a young princess who goes into hiding and takes on an epic journey to save her father and her kingdom. With characters that you feel compelled to love and a plot that...

Julia Summers PA:
It's Prodigious, Shocking, Stunning, Unbelievably fascinating and enduring yet evil has a presence about it! Epic writing style! - Nook Books and More BlogRed that pulls you in. The characters have a way of pulling you in. They are all unique in a way that gives it a different appeal then the ave...

Sandra Leigh:
excellent story. Lots of classic fairy tale elements with a fresh spin. Very much looking forward to the sequel. However, there are a number of typos and minor awkward sentences. I occasionally work for my publisher as an editor and would not mind editing this for you. Feel free to contact m...

Ben Gauger:
Kudos to Bryan Laesch, author of Remnants of Chaos:Chaotic Omens for his use of the Gothic style of writing and in addition the footnotes and endnotes at the end of each chapter, a welcome accompaniment to be sure, though his use of grammar could use a little improving, but his use of punctuation...

Schaelz:
I was intrigued from the second I started reading, and it kept my interest the whole way through. Chelsea has a way with words that will enchant you until the very end. She is very poetic with the way she mixes genres and keeps you on the edge of your seat. The main character is also very relat...